Firefighters make progress on fire near Lake Elsinore

Firefighters stopped the forward progress of a 17-acre fire in an unincorporated county area between Perris and Lake Elsinore that threatened structures and temporarily closed a portion of State Route 74.

The fire was reported at 2:17 p.m. near State Route 74 and Ethanac Road, said Tawny Cabral of the Riverside County Fire Department.

The fire, burning in light vegetation, tripled in size in its first hour and was threatening structures in the sparsely populated area.

State Route 74 was temporarily closed to through traffic between Spring Street and Ethanac Road, Cabral said, but has since reopened.